This is an active bond ETF that seeks total return by diversifying broadly across bonds, centered on investment-grade debt such as US Treasuries, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and asset-backed securities. Income is the primary source of its total return.

It suits investors who want stable income and diversification through bond allocation, and who prefer active management and value-based selection.

It is an ETF actively managed by OneAscent.

With investment-grade bonds at its core, the fund actively allocates across diverse sectors, including US Treasuries, corporate bonds, taxable municipal bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and asset-backed securities. It applies value-based screening and impact criteria to select holdings, and the managers adjust duration and sector weights in pursuit of total return centered on income.

• Applies value-based screening and impact criteria
• Active core plus management spanning a variety of bond sectors

Assets under management (AUM) stand at $268.6M, and the total expense ratio is 0.67% per year.

Because the fund adjusts sectors and duration through active management, its fees are somewhat higher than those of passive bond ETFs.

As with bond ETFs generally, returns depend on the direction of interest rates, and during periods of rate volatility, price swings emerge depending on duration exposure. Active management tends to respond to such volatility through sector allocation.

In the core plus bond category, money seeking income and diversification flows in and out steadily, and changes in the rate environment and credit spreads tend to influence those flows.

Broad bond diversification and value-based active management are its strengths, while fees that are somewhat higher than comparable passive ETFs are its weakness.

Of the funds shown in the table, BNDX and IUSB are lower-fee, broad passive bond ETFs, while BINC, PYLD, and JCPB use active multi-sector or core plus strategies similar to this ETF. In addition, AGG and BND are representative core ETFs that track the US aggregate bond market, and investors who want long-term Treasury exposure with higher rate sensitivity can also consider TLT.

Here are the points to review before investing in OACP. Because it is an active bond ETF, it is wise to check in advance its interest rate sensitivity and duration, its fee level relative to comparable passive ETFs, and its credit exposure through corporate and foreign bonds.

Rising interest rates and wider credit spreads are the main drivers of short-term price swings. Even with active management, it is hard to avoid unrealized losses when the bond market as a whole is weak.

It is worth considering if you want both income and diversification and prefer active bond management. To reduce the fee burden, passive core bond ETFs such as AGG and BND can serve as alternatives.